Worth the Wait
by KateAncharn
Summary: Smoker had never expected a surprise like this after two years of silence. AU: Ace is alive.


Smoker blinked in shock as he looked inside his wardrobe, irritation withdrawing for a moment. He stood there in nothing but a towel looking where he knew his clothes had been before he'd stepped into the shower. They had been replaced by a lone outfit dangling from a lone hanger, and the smoke user felt a blood vessel almost pop.

"Son of a..." the Marine glowered, tempted to tear the costume to pieces and go track down the idiot that thought crossing him would be a good idea. It was an outfit Smoker recognized, he'd seen it on one of the Straw Hats, and he was _not_ amused. A tight red speedo was draped over the bar that formed the bottom of the little triangle of wire, an annoyingly big star right in the center of the crotch. The also red Hawaiian shirt that made up the rest of the getup was less antagonizing, though the buttons had been removed so it would be hanging open no matter what.

His little stare off with the clothes had him glaring in a desperate attempt that if he tried hard enough, he could make the thing burst into flames. Obviously, nothing happened except Smoker becoming even more enraged. He ran a hand through his hair, turning away from the ransacked wardrobe with a snarl. He paced his cabin, glancing at his den-den mushi that sat quietly on his his desk. The Vice Admiral weight his options.

There was a large Halloween party in the square, no invitation necessary, and he knew his crew would either stay on the ship or head to pubs for their merriment. It was almost sundown, and he was too proud to ask his subordinates if he could have a pair of pants. This was humiliating enough without getting them involved. Smoker's shoulders sagged with his final decision, a resigned sigh gliding out. With as much dignity as he could muster, he turned, walked back over to his wardrobe, and pulled out the hanger.

The smoke user glanced at his reflection in a shop window as he passed by, and his reflection glared back accusingly. He looked ridiculous. The clothes fit perfectly; the shirt flowed around him just enough and the speedo hugged his hips in all the right ways. That didn't mean he looked any less stupid walking around in them, though. Smoker felt his cheeks tinge pink with anger and embarrassment as another lewd call was sent his way.

"Nice legs, baby~!" a none-too-sober man whistled from his perch on a stack of crates. "Mind walkin' over here with 'em? They'd look good wrapped 'round my waist!" With literally no one else in the little side street, Smoker knew that comment was for him, but he just kept walking, albeit a little faster. He still didn't have any leads on where his clothing had gotten to, and he was ticked off as it was without having an idiot on his hands.

"Oi, didn'ya hear me, sweetheart! Get that ass over here, I've gotta 'treat' fer' ya'~!" the man shouted, having the guts to make his way over and try to _grope_ him. The Marine growled, slapping the hand away as he whirled around to face him. He was tempted to just go smoke on the drunk, but then people would know he was out here, and they would find out about this little... situation. He blew a puff of his cigars right in the man's face, praying he'd choke on in and give him enough time to make himself scarce.

"Ah, c'mon, babe! I like 'em fiery!" The drunken man slurred, grabbing his wrist with a grip that surprised Smoker long enough for him to be yanked back against a body that was rank with rum and grog. A hand was gripping his hip, now, and the Marine stiffened. Before he could react and beat the shit of of this idiot for this breach of personal space, a swirl of crimson tore him away and against another chest. He felt heat pulsing through the sun kissed skin as he was held tightly, and the smoke user felt himself relax and stiffen as the swirl of crimson spoke in a familiar voice.

"This one isn't 'fiery'. He's _taken_, and if you want to keep your hands, then I'd say you'd better shove off," a young voice purred, sparks seeming to flicker off of his voice, as well as his body. Smoker could feel the smugness dripping from his voice as the drunk grumbled, but teetered down the street and turned a corner.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead, brat?" Smoker grunted, forcing some space between their bodies and he eyed the younger man. Those sun kissed lips just grinned their trademark annoying grin, dark eyes dancing with fire. Ace was dressed in something the Vice Admiral found quite fitting; he was the devil. Horns, tail, bright red clothing, everything but red skin and the pitchfork. In his normal fashion, the vest he wore was open, showing of his muscled chest, and the knees of his pants were torn open.

"C'mon, I know I sent you a letter, what, 2 weeks after my 'death'? Just haven't felt like sneaking into any Marine Bases to say 'Hi'," the fire user chuckled, his shoulders shrugging faintly. Smoker was less then pleased but didn't let the pirate get to him. He was used to the little games Ace would play here and there, and he felt like at least for now, he'd let it slide.

"Stow it, Portgas," Smoker growled, his cigar smoke curling irately in the air above him. "What the hell did you do with my clothes?" The mock surprise followed by the feigned innocence had the smoke user seriously consider punching the youth, but he kept his restraint. If Ace wanted to play this kind of game with him, he had another thing coming.

"I was wondering why you were wearing these..." the fire user hummed, holding up a red speedo. Smoker blinked, did a double take, and then promptly rushed to cover his now bare crotch as a yelp slid out of his throat. He was unprepared for that, and for the cheeky spank the left side of his rear was given. Ace seemed more then amused, stretching the fabric teasingly before darting up the road.

"Fucking- Get back here, brat!" the smoke user shouted, and despite his nudity, he gave chase. His face was flushed bright pink, and he knew the brat had slapped hard enough to leave a bruise on his pale skin by the way it throbbed. _'How the __**hell**__ did he get those off without my noticing!?'_ he thought as he ran, weaving through empty streets in pursuit of the only thing between him and public indecency. Ace turned into an ally, skidding to a stop when a pile of crates and a wall blocked his way. Sure, he could climb them easily, even without his Devil Fruit, but he wasn't trying to escape. He sat down on a crate, smirking as he waited. Soon enough, a flustered smoke user was standing in the opening of the little ally way, covering himself with the fabric from the Hawaiian shirt, and glaring at him. The Marine glowered, taking a few steps further into the ally.

Before Smoker got any further, the pirate felt a cool breeze stir from the street, and decided to relax and watch the show. Another blur zipped in behind the smoke user, circling him on a tight ring of thin ice. Metal scraped on the frozen ground, but the sharp click of a lock sliding closed was heard above it, though another sharp spank was not. With the fluttering of red fabric, Ace's accomplice skated calmly backwards to his side on his own private path of ice.

"Arara... You shouldn't walk around naked, Smoker," The Ex-Marine chuckled, a small smirk on his lips as his eyes leisurely took in the blushing smoke user. "Singles might thing you're not already with other people." The ice user was dressed in a form fitting outfit. The way parts of it were covered utterly with sequins and the ice skates tied on his feet lead Smoker to believe he was some kind of professional ice skater. A blue shirt broken up by a stripe of glimmering black lead to a tight black sash and well tailored pants. The red Hawaiian shirt with a palm tree pattern, however, was grasped in his hand, and the Marine squeaked with realization that he was completely nude and his body positioned so both men could see his privates.

Aokiji watched calmly as the Vice Admiral tried, and failed, to sift into his element; the thin ring of seastone clamped around his neck made sure of it. With his blush darkening to crimson, the Marine used his arms to try and cover his body, one hand over his groin and the other crossed over his chest as he almost curled into his own body. He didn't dare to look at the two other Devil Fruit users as his face burned and his rear smarted with embarrassment. Two hand-shaped bruises were forming, one on each butt cheek, and he was just about ready to cut off the two hands that made them.

"A-Ashholes!" the smoke user snapped, cursing himself for the small stutter and how his voice had changed to a higher pitch then he'd intended. "Give me back my clothes!"

"Ah, Smokey~! You know better. We all know you wont be needing them for, I'd say... the rest of the night," the fire user purred coyly. Smoker saw his feet peeking into his vision as he kept his gaze glued to the ground. He felt the taller ice user talk his own spot behind him, feeling the chilled breath ghost faintly on the back of his neck. "It's been well over two years since the last time we got together for a nice evening... I know you haven't forgotten."

The smoke user deflated a little at those words, peeking out at the young pirate. His eyes held faint emotions that took years of careful dedication to actually read for what they were. Ace saw loneliness, embarrassment, fear, and betrayal shifting through those hard to read eyes before they were turned back to the ground.

"Oh, Dove... You've been so good, even without us there. I've never seen a man-no, a human- so devoted to a relationship like this one," the fire user sighed, tilting that pale face up, again. His fingers ran lightly over the new facial scar; it was something to get used to, but not detracting from the handsome features he'd started pursuing the other for. "Two years without seeing hide nor hair of either of us, and yet you still stayed faithful."

"Not everyone is as needy as you, Ace-san," Aokiji hummed. "But two years is a feat and deserves some kind of compensation. You've been more faithful then most people we've known, and it has been hurting you inside, hasn't it?" The small twitch of the smoke user's shoulders said enough. Smoker had always been a man of actions, and this was no different. The doubts and worries that he begun swirling though the Vice Admiral's head needed to be put to rest.

"Smoker... We brought you in as an experiment for our sex life, yes. But we kept you around of Kami knows how many other reasons," the young pirate insisted. "You are smart, maybe smarter then both me and Aokiji. You are deceptively sweet, despite that scowl you're always wearing around. And you deserve so much more then that neglect. Lover's should never do that..."

"B-but you'd have gotten caught!" Smoker finally piped up, a tiny hint of panic in his voice. "Both of you..."

"And we could have been caught before. It didn't stop us then, Smoker," Aokiji mumbled into his ear. "It _shouldn't _have stopped us up until now, either, Snowflake." The Marine shuddered a little as cold and hot air mixed on his skin. He remembered why he'd kept excepting the invitations to hotel rooms for several 'disciplinary session' with the two; the way their powers mixed and contrasted had his body tingling. Smoker snapped out of it a little, he had to focus, now.

"You just left me there... No goodbyes, nothing." Smoker muttered, a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "A-and I just... j-jut _can_ let it go until you say goodbye or tell me it's over."

"It's not over, Dove..." Ace sighed, coaxing th man to stand tall. "We just had to go on a long business trip. We're back, now, and we're not leaving again. Now, c'mere... There's a nice hotel room waiting for us. You've more then earned a little pampering." A dangerously warm hand settled on his left hip while an icy one rested on his right, and Smoker shivered with a relief and excitement he'd only been able to dream about for the past 27 months.

Aokiji was the first one up the next morning, two pleasantly warm bodies curled against his sides. Ace was out in his usual narcoleptic fit and aided by a dose of honest exhaustion. Smoker, on the other hand... The smoke user was usually the first one up once he'd gotten used to the physical demands of the bedroom. Then again, the Marine was out of practice while he and Ace had each other to work with to stay sharp in the act of love-making. The ice user gave a leisurely yawn, careful of the two nestled against him.

The ice user let a hand run through each head of hair pillowed on his chest, noting the differences that went further then just its color and style. Ace's hair was shiny and more silky then soft, the smoothness unrivaled by anything other then absurdly expensive furs and such. It was surprising because of how much crap a pirate's hair was put through just about every day, and even more so with the constant heat it had to deal with. It was nice to feel pressed against bare skin, and thick.

Smoker's hair was a different story. The snowy white locks were the softest, fluffiest things in existence; that was one of the few things Aokiji knew for sure. It felt like baby duck down had been crossed with clouds, kitten fur, and all other things soft and fluffy to the touch. Kami, knowing the power of something 'so fluffy, I'm going to die from its cuteness,' could be abused, he gave it to the most hardened, 'you touch me, I kill you,' man on the planet. Didn't stop either one of Smoker's partners from petting it, though the Marine was quick to wizen up and use it as a bargaining chip to keep them from doing anything stupid. They could still use their pet-and-run tactics; they'd worked well enough, but having the smoke user stay still while you savored the fluffiness was worth it.

He stroked their hair quietly, neither one waking at the soft and slow touches as the ice used let his gaze wander to the small mound of shopping bags by the closet. He though back to the day Ace actually spilled the beans about his little plan. He'd been off, browsing through a more... sex oriented store when Aokiji had approached. His lips quirked as he remembered the almost critical eye the fire user had used while scanning over each costume, a devious grin on his lips are he chose one or wistfully abandoned another for an even better design. After a little coercion and some rather short and sparkly figure skating dresses, he'd found himself doing the same before meeting up at the dressing rooms to discus which ones looked better and what to take home.

The ice user yawned faintly, cuddling the two closer. There was still six days until the actual Halloween, and more parties to attend each night. With the stock of group costumes they'd accumulated the day Smoker pulled into port, he doubted Ace would have to stop playing dress-up with his two lovers until they'd been coerced and paraded around town in just about everything the pirate had convinced him to help buy. The smoke user might mind here and there, but they both knew him well enough to know he'd missed the usual antics.

If he had to dress as some pirate or any other kinky thing the fire user pulled out of those bags, he'd be fine as long as it got the Marine smiling. He'd planned his own little activities for the few days the smoke user would be stuck in the port once the Halloween buzz was over, and the youngest of their little trio had agreed to assist with the finer points. Aokiji didn't mind the wait; the perfect creatures snuggling against him peacefully were more then enough to make him content. He just needed to make sure that what he had to offer was just as worthy of how long the Vice Admiral had been forced to silently bare his solitude. In the back of his mind, though, Aokiji new that to Smoker, little moments like this in a world of chaos and hatred were more then worth the wait.


End file.
